Case Number 18974: Small Claims Court

THE GREATEST AMERICAN HERO: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON

The Charge

"You're the only one that can save the world from destruction. If you
fail...this planet will simply turn to dust." -- Alien

So, no pressure.

The Case

The Greatest American Hero is pure, unadulterated, 1980s-era cheese. A
very fine cheese, mind you, but cheese nonetheless. The show chronicles the
exploits of Ralph Hinkley (William Katt, Carrie), a mild-mannered teacher
who has greatness thrust upon him when he encounters aliens in the desert. The
aliens gift Ralph with a suit that grants him all manner of superpowers.
Unfortunately, Ralph loses the instruction manual (As a technical writer, I must
express my outrage that documentation is treated in such a cavalier fashion).
The aliens partner Ralph with gung-ho FBI agent Bill Maxwell (Robert Culp, I
Spy), who sees the suit as the ultimate means to root out communism. Dragged
along for the ride is Ralph's girlfriend Pam (Connie Sellecca, The Wild
Stallion).

Bill's uber-enthusiasm for their various missions notwithstanding, Ralph has
some major issues with the "magic jammies" and the crusade into which
he has been unceremoniously dragooned. For one thing, he's a single parent
(although his son makes rare appearances), and periodic disappearances don't sit
well with ex-wives or family courts. For another, he teaches at a local high
school, having been assigned a "special ed" class full of congenital
troublemakers, including Tony (Michael Paré, Eddie and the
Cruisers), a Vinnie Barbarino wannabe, and Rhonda (Faye Grant, the original
V), who has a crush on Ralph. Being dragged away from school projects and
Shakespearian performances aren't going to help Ralph's chances for tenure. As a
result, Ralph has quite the balancing act, attempting to juggle his parental and
educator responsibilities with saving the world and keeping Bill from going too
far off the deep end. The fun is in watching Bill attempting to boss around
Ralph (who usually responds with a variant of "Hey, I'm the one with
the magic jammies, remember?") and Pam, whose reactions when Bill calls her
"cupcake" never get old. Ralph's inability to control the suit is
played to the hilt, and the scenes in which Ralph and Bill try to discover new
powers are money, since they usually trigger an unexpected power -- and thus
Ralph manages to turn himself invisible right before he's supposed to have
dinner with Pam and her parents.

Cross Chuck with Welcome Back Kotter, and you've got a good
approximation of the show's overall tone. The show is a nice artifact from the
halcyon days of television, when screenwriters simply didn't know what
"verisimilitude" meant. So you get patently ludicrous concepts, such
as Bill enlisting Ralph's class to track a dangerous criminal. That Bill
would consider such a thing is perfectly believable, mind you -- that Ralph
would go along...not so much. For a superhero, Ralph does relatively little to
protect his secret identity. Bizarrely, it all manages to work as escapist fun
of the first order.

The disc retains the mastering from the 2005 Anchor Bay edition, and that's
just fine. Images are sharp, with some occasional color banding, most often seen
whenever Pam's white VW bug passes in front of anything dark. The packaging
leaves something to be desired, consisting of a thick snap case with the two
discs resting inside in paper sleeves. Not only is it cheap, but it's bulky --
the same width as cases housing six-disc sets -- and for most DVD collectors,
shelf space is at a premium. Most of the extras from the earlier Anchor Bay
edition are gone, presumably to trim the set down to two discs; the only
survivor is a 20-minute interview with show creator Stephen J. Cannell. It's
good, but it would have been nice to get the cast interviews as well.

Trivia: In 2008, William Katt launched Catastrophic Comics. It's first
title? The Greatest American Hero, natch.

The Verdict

It's hardly the greatest American series, but The Greatest American
Hero's oddball antics will have you walking on air.